Journalism is no longer about research, accuracy, proper grammar, or diction. Without the communications background, you're done. So then if you fail to make money off some shiatty blog, your poor skills prevent you from falling back as an executive assistant. You lose out to the English Lit majors and fight for collating duties with the History majors.

But don't worry, there would totally be enough jobs for everyone if we all got engineering and CIS degrees instead. They won't undercut you with H1-B workers or anything. Engineering and IT are jobs gardens with jobs hanging off every vine, and they grow abundant forever and ever.

verbaltoxin:But don't worry, there would totally be enough jobs for everyone if we all got engineering and CIS degrees instead. They won't undercut you with H1-B workers or anything. Engineering and IT are jobs gardens with jobs hanging off every vine, and they grow abundant forever and ever.

verbaltoxin:But don't worry, there would totally be enough jobs for everyone if we all got engineering and CIS degrees instead. They won't undercut you with H1-B workers or anything. Engineering and IT are jobs gardens with jobs hanging off every vine, and they grow abundant forever and ever.

...he said, while using a device (and its extensive associated infrastructure) that was invented by EE and CS graduates.

The problem with Journalism degree is that it gives you a wide set of skills that are generic enough on the surface that any moron can say, "I can do that."

This leads to tons of people who aren't terribly good at the job doing the job. This causes a surplus in the labor supply while simultaneously dragging down the quality of the field.

I've got a BS and I can't tell you how many people I've run into in my 16 year career who were "doing" journalism with no proper training or ability. The greatest casualty has been the true reporter. The few greats who are ferret out stories and important information are lost in a sea of tripe. Instead we have a massive number of people doing what looks like reporting but isn't. Most of modern journalism is regurgitation. No one values vomit.

My current job consists of editing press releases and community announcements, and doing page design for weekly newspapers. For more than ten years I was the only person to actually hold a journalism degree in our entire organization. The other person, who earned her degree while working for us, just left.

Cybernetic:verbaltoxin: But don't worry, there would totally be enough jobs for everyone if we all got engineering and CIS degrees instead. They won't undercut you with H1-B workers or anything. Engineering and IT are jobs gardens with jobs hanging off every vine, and they grow abundant forever and ever.

...he said, while using a device (and its extensive associated infrastructure) that was invented by EE and CS graduates.

You sound butthurt.

And shipped around on machines made by ME/EE/AME's propelled by work from ChemE's and all with components including CE work on routes and infrastructure from Civils.

Boudyro:The problem with Journalism degree is that it gives you a wide set of skills that are generic enough on the surface that any moron can say, "I can do that."

This leads to tons of people who aren't terribly good at the job doing the job. This causes a surplus in the labor supply while simultaneously dragging down the quality of the field.

I've got a BS and I can't tell you how many people I've run into in my 16 year career who were "doing" journalism with no proper training or ability. The greatest casualty has been the true reporter. The few greats who are ferret out stories and important information are lost in a sea of tripe. Instead we have a massive number of people doing what looks like reporting but isn't. Most of modern journalism is regurgitation. No one values vomit.

My current job consists of editing press releases and community announcements, and doing page design for weekly newspapers. For more than ten years I was the only person to actually hold a journalism degree in our entire organization. The other person, who earned her degree while working for us, just left.

Best Princess Celestia:Cybernetic: verbaltoxin: But don't worry, there would totally be enough jobs for everyone if we all got engineering and CIS degrees instead. They won't undercut you with H1-B workers or anything. Engineering and IT are jobs gardens with jobs hanging off every vine, and they grow abundant forever and ever.

...he said, while using a device (and its extensive associated infrastructure) that was invented by EE and CS graduates.

You sound butthurt.

And shipped around on machines made by ME/EE/AME's propelled by work from ChemE's and all with components including CE work on routes and infrastructure from Civils.

He sounds really butthurt.

Aww, you poor little babes. It was neat to see you sail in and cover your insecurities because of the slightest bit of trolling though.

There is not shortage of jobs generating content, it's just hard to find one writing news. Seriously, you have to be a salesperson these days...the writers I know with a flair for business do just fine.

StopLurkListen:My wife went to j-school and got a degree, and is in another field. IMO, even if you don't use it, it's a better prep for tough writing-related fields than a generic degree in "English".

This is basically what I did. Concentrated in journalism within English, because I didn't think having an "English major" seemed that great, but had no desire to work in journalism. I have a job in a different field where I use my writing/communication skills all the time. If I could do it over, I would have concentrated in business and technical writing instead.

If it doesn't happen within two blocks of the office or come off the AP wire, they don't cover it.

Major layoffs last week at my hospital, which is the biggest employer of this city. Local paper prints basically a press release. Newspaper from a bigger city upriver gives a nice story about three sets of layoffs in three years while the CEOs pay continues to increase, the board of directors got raises and we're under investigation by the Dept of Justice.

I wish career statistics were made more visible by university departments. I would never suggest anyone enter my field at anything below the MS/PhD level, and looking for a career with a BS is a total waste of time.

UDel_Kitty:StopLurkListen: My wife went to j-school and got a degree, and is in another field. IMO, even if you don't use it, it's a better prep for tough writing-related fields than a generic degree in "English".

This is basically what I did. Concentrated in journalism within English, because I didn't think having an "English major" seemed that great, but had no desire to work in journalism. I have a job in a different field where I use my writing/communication skills all the time. If I could do it over, I would have concentrated in business and technical writing instead.

I got a post-graduate diploma in technical writing after university and I wish I'd done that first. It's useful in so many ways. Employment, for one...

People who can write well actually have great opportunities now. (NOTE: People who can write well and people who majored in journalism do not necessarily overlap.)

I'm a former journalist and newspaper editor who went into online marketing and SEO years ago after being laid off. (No, not spam SEO -- the real "inbound marketing" kind.) There is a lot of demand for people who can write quality blog posts, essays, case studies, and such because Google rewards websites that regularly produce quality, original content. Look into "content marketing."

bostonguy:People who can write well actually have great opportunities now. (NOTE: People who can write well and people who majored in journalism do not necessarily overlap.)

I'm a former journalist and newspaper editor who went into online marketing and SEO years ago after being laid off. (No, not spam SEO -- the real "inbound marketing" kind.) There is a lot of demand for people who can write quality blog posts, essays, case studies, and such because Google rewards websites that regularly produce quality, original content. Look into "content marketing."

Nice. Me too.

I kinda fell into the whole marketing thing. I really wanted to be a newspaper reporter (this was pre-911 when newspapers were still viable and reporters still respected). But journalism changed so much in the years I was in college that I was no longer interested in it when I graduated.

Marketing and journalism are almost identical. It was an easy transition for me but I did have to really push hard to convince some of my employers that I could be a marketing pro without any formal training.

I did go back to get an associates degree in web development. Writing good marketing copy + web skills = job security.

I cannot emphasize this enough. I can analyze a website for search-engine indexing (XML sitemaps, schema code, and so on) and write the content as well. Plus do social media, PPC campaigns, and more.

Learn these things, and you'll have work. (The technical stuff is not that hard -- I can't code programs or games for the life of me, but SEO stuff is less complicated.) Though the field is becoming more crowded -- best to learn as much as soon as possible.

verbaltoxin:But don't worry, there would totally be enough jobs for everyone if we all got engineering and CIS degrees instead. They won't undercut you with H1-B workers or anything. Engineering and IT are jobs gardens with jobs hanging off every vine, and they grow abundant forever and ever.

THIS THIS THIS. Everyone tells you to get a degree in engineering or CS because jobs jobs jobs, but then they brought in H1-Bs and started offshoring everything and now our unemployment rate has exploded to 4 percent.

Most writing jobs pay only slightly more than flipping burgers. If you work really hard and can get in on the staff of a publication that pays decent, you still only make about as much as an executive admin. As a journalist, I made as much money as I did managing a retail store, but working in retail meant a lot less stress. Many places these days want content, whether it's a website or startup, but they are not willing to pay squat for it. I have had offers for jobs that paid $25 a post, which turned out to be about $6 an hour for my time to do it. No thanks. Now I do some freelance work on the side and work a retail job while still trying to get into marketing communications or public relations. The problem is that online content is a constant stream of nonsense with no time to go anywhere or do any real in-person research to produce quality stories. Your phone is your best friend. I once had to write an 'earnings' story on Symantec and my competitors at eWeek had a story posted before the earnings call was even over. That was one of the last things I did while working full time on staff at a publication. I thought that was insane since the CEO was still throwing out good quotes.